I've seen lots of positive changes since I joined two years ago...industry is difficult which has an impact on morale and retention but Ipsos is improving the culture, doing more for employees and the Friday beer carts are the envy of all my friends!

Cons

Clients and their demands can be intense but at least I am learning and growing.

Advice to Management

Please invest more in your talent. We need to do more to keep the people who have been here 3-5 years.

Ipsos Response

Jun 16, 2015 – HR Manager

We are always pleased to see and hear the positive reception of our social activities - thank you for taking the time to share your experience!

There are some staff members that are truly dedicated and depending on what department you work in you could get lucky and learn a few things. Join as a stepping stone for your career, not to stay long term. The benefits package is about average for the industry.

Cons

Expect little work/life balance. The job must get done and deadlines must be met. Period. One of the major downfalls of this company was the Synovate merge a few years ago and it just doesn't seem as if this company can recover from it. This merger acquisition coupled by the poor decisions from a dinosaur senior management and a decreasing and ineffective Operations department with no supervision and poor leadership is not helping this company to rise to the ranks it once was.

Advice to Management

It's not to late to weed out the leaders you placed in positions that do not belong there or replace the leaders that have been there too long. Revitalize a company that used to be really great.

The office is really spacious, Great co-workers. Casual attire. One can work independently and not worry about people micromanaging. I really enjoyed having my own office, but not all office in Ipsos is like that.

Cons

Having to constantly deal with IT due to internet dropping, because of poor installation of VOIP. Senior Manager in remote location. Not given proper training. The company under pays their employees, and yearly re-structuring is nerve racking.

The Project Director role is great for someone who has recently graduated from college and needs to build a foundational skill set for business. You will work with big name clients, and get immediate exposure to supplier-client relationships. Your projects will take place across the world, so you will also gain exposure to international relationships, customs, etc. You will learn accountability, organizational skills, time management, and conflict management. You will gain surface knowledge on qualitative market research, but know that you will likely never go to research - you will plan logistics and support recruitment. There are about 1-2 weeks of onboarding and training, and expectations of your role are 100% outlined. Those who are in your role, or work closely with your role, can become great friends. Vacation, holidays, and benefits are good.

Cons

There is little to nothing to motivate you in this role. The role is so underpaid, and odds are that you will never get a bonus. Monthly "recognition" is in place, but it is poorly managed. Management and Sr. Management take all of the client and internal feedback (you're lucky if you get either) and filter what they want to recognize - it's delivered with a sheet of paper, and a treat of "you get to leave 2-hours early one day," but you won't be able to use it. You're also the middle man. If anything goes wrong, everyone points their fingers at you. Is there an opportunity to excel, or do something that you'd like? They tell you "put in the extra time to make the opportunity happen," but that extra time is spent on managing an outrageous project capacity and anything you couldn't get done during the day, and you become burnt out - it's a vicious cycle. Being treated unfairly by management? You're told to be the bigger person, and that senior management will "talk to" the manager that disrespected you. The Ipsos UU office is made up of about 70% of this role - you are all doing the same thing. If you have any skills outside of what they want their Project Managers to be, they will rarely be utilized, and if anything, they will be deflated. Maybe these skills are better suited for a non-operations role? Good luck getting out of this silo of the company. Want a promotion? Try threatening to quit. 20% is middle-management, which gets what you're going through. But beware - some of these managers get it, but want you to go through the hell that they've been through, and some want to make sure you don't go through anything they ever went through. The latter is rare, but you'll see who they are based on how much turnover is on their team. The final 10% is the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), who hears and sees that the company is falling apart but continues to "move forward" like nothing is happening. Turnover has become so bad that it's laughable here, and it's not limited to Project Directors, either. Communication about turnover is even more ridiculous - it rarely happens, and if it does, it's weeks after that desk is noticeably empty, which leaves that event up to gossip.

Advice to Management

Understand your employees' motivations: whether it's a title, recognition, money, etc. The type of work that Project Directors do is not the "standard" at other companies - there is rarely a moment when they aren't going above and beyond. They learn this when they interview and other companies want to hire them immediately, and pay them appropriately for it.

Good place for junior people to learn some skills. Some great, smart people doing the work – but most companies have these.

Cons

Senior management say the right things about caring about work life balance, but nothing is actually done to change this, as this would impact profits. Their words are empty. People leave and are not replaced, and sales targets are increased. The expectation is that people regularly work evenings and weekends, as this is the only way to meet deadlines. Not ideal for anybody with family or friends.

Advice to Management

I don't think management will listen to any advice given. Their lack of sincerity is an insult to anybody with intelligence.